You two make me have to laugh. How about we make the whoever-started-this rethink his/her artistic idea and we send him/her back to the drawing board. How do we do this? We ALL just start licking our plates, shrugging our shoulders at the aghast stares, and declaring out loud that we thought that was the point of all the messy plates!

RiversidePeace wrote:Well, you see, it was an American who decided that "presentation" was the key to a successful dish. When I see the chocolate sauce drizzled over the plate first I have to groan because it's also uncouth to lick the plate but it's the only way I'll get to taste the chocolate.

Don, please start a new fad by forgetting the presentation that leaves us all wanting to lick the plate.

Chrissy

I admit that when there is chocolate smeared all over the plate because some crazy thinks it looks nice and presentable, then, the best/only way to attack it is with some serious plate licking - uncouth or not.

But the real question still is...why do chefs think it is desireable presentation? How did that messy plate fad get started, who started it, and how in the world were they able to convince others that is the way it should be done? Maybe he was an abstract artist wanna-be.

Perhaps this describes me: You can take the boy out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy.

Don

John 14:6Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Sorry Don, I don't know the answer but perhaps if we all start lickking our plates in public, we could reverse the idea of their idea of a fancy presentation or just start a new fad...of licking our plates. LOL!

I'm still laughing at the images you two are conjuring up in my mind. Okay, we'll start the fad going. I'm sure I will have no trouble recruiting my five brothers. I can still hear my dad telling those boys, once upon a time, "Must you be so GREEN?"

Edy wrote: I'm still laughing at the images you two are conjuring up in my mind. Okay, we'll start the fad going. I'm sure I will have no trouble recruiting my five brothers. I can still hear my dad telling those boys, once upon a time, "Must you be so GREEN?"

Edy wrote: I'm still laughing at the images you two are conjuring up in my mind. Okay, we'll start the fad going. I'm sure I will have no trouble recruiting my five brothers. I can still hear my dad telling those boys, once upon a time, "Must you be so GREEN?"

Edy wrote: I'm still laughing at the images you two are conjuring up in my mind. Okay, we'll start the fad going. I'm sure I will have no trouble recruiting my five brothers. I can still hear my dad telling those boys, once upon a time, "Must you be so GREEN?"

Better watch out, BeachGrandma! Don and Chrissy are in the running for Last Comic Standing, which we all know rightfully belongs to YOU. So, you'll have to chime in and beat out the competition. We're having too much fun, already, with nary a peep from you!

If I went to any of those classy restaurants, Chrissy, I'd gladly go first. But, the deli at Lunds is about as high falutin' as Howard and I get for our Friday or Saturday night dates. And, their stuff is very neat.

Last night, I made lasagna from a recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I should've been suspicious when it called for a 16 ounce can of whole tomatoes. At the store, I found whole tomatoes in 14.5 and 28 ounce cans only. Then, when I went to make the sauce, as it cooked, I thought, is there really going to be enough? The answer turned out to be no. I was able to put 3 layers of sauce between the noodles, and after that it was cheese. Then I ran out of cheese--the ricotta--and had to shred up the second half of a 1 pound ball of mozzarella. The one cup of sauce they recommended for the bottom barely covered the bottom of what I know was the right size pan, ditto the cheese in the next layer. As far as taste went, it was edible, though this is the first time I've had to use a knife as well as a fork to eat lasagna with. A couple of my roommates asked for some, and they liked it. But to the eye, it looks like bare noodles. Not esthetically pleasing. I'm no amateur in the kitchen, but I think somebody on the editorial staff should've taken a second look at the recipe, and tried to make it themselves the way it was written. They would've spotted the errors in short order. I once tried to make fudge with frosting mix from a Betty Crocker cookbook, and it didn't turn out well at all. A friend took it and baked some cupcakes, using the failed fudge as frosting. Supposedly, these big-name cookbook writers test their recipes over and over to make them as foolproof as possible, but I think the fault lies with the publisher. Somebody must've been asleep at the switch.

You know those annoying little, gnat-like bugs that seem to fly out of nowhere to congregate near a light in the summer time? Well, if you're from Minnesota you know what I'm talkin' about.

They don't stay outside at night either. Their body is shaped perfectly to slip right through a screen door or window. They are about 3/32" long with a very skinny body. I say 'about' 3/32" long because they won't hold still long enough for me to accurately measure them.

When not flying, they can run like the wind. Their six little legs churn away, and propel their sleek bodies forward in such a erratic pattern that it looks like they are participating in a demolition derby.

They accumulate in large numbers right smack on my kitchen counter top in the evenings - drawn there by my under-cabinet lights. Forget about having any uncovered food sitting on the counter top. The little buggers fly around like they are drunk, and will crash into whatever is nearby. An uncovered butter dish will soon have bugs stuck there like it was fly paper.

They must have short life-spans because by morning my counter top looks like a graveyard with dead bodies scattered all over the place. Then, I drag out my vacuum cleaner to clear away the remains.

Tonight hundreds of their friends will show up and mess up my kitchen again.

Don

John 14:6Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."